In the Palm Sunday story of Jesus riding into Jerusalem, he rides on a colt that has never had a rider. He is coming into a kingship that has no predecessor. As we sing in the Advent hymn “Prepare the Royal Highway”:
His is no earthly kingdom; he comes from heaven above. His rule is peace and freedom and justice, truth, and love. (Evangelical Lutheran Worship #264)
Are we ready to let die any notion that our goodness, our right behavior, can save us or make us right with God? Are we prepared to honestly admit that we don’t always look for Jesus in other people, and we don’t always let other people see Jesus in us? Are we ready to die within ourselves and in our actions, die to our prejudices, blind spots, fears, and insecurities?
Can you be open to the way dying makes way for new life? Are you prepared to ponder the different kind of king Jesus is and the different kind of life to which he calls us?
This message is excerpted from “The meaning of hosanna!” by Julia Seymour in the March/April 2022 Gather magazine. Today is Christ the King Sunday.
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